Philosophy of the Ganesha Purana by C. Devadas

Philosophy of the Ganesha Purana by C. Devadas After concluding the discussion of all eighteen major Vedic treatises, from the Agni, Bhagavat to the Visnu Purana, Srila Suta Gosvami was asked to speak before the assembly of sages at Naimasaranya. This request was due to his illustrious spiritual nature, being very advanced in knowledge of the Absolute. He felt that the stories of Lord Ganesha would be best to impart to his audience, so he recited the Ganesha Purana. We can get a hint of the importance of this information from such a great spiritual teacher. Although the stories in the other Puranas, such as the Bhagavat, contain highly esoteric and practical spiritual knowledge, we shouldn’t consider the other Puranas as having less significance. While the Ganesha Purana ontologically belongs to a minor category of spiritual literatures, nevertheless it would imprudent to suggest it is inferior knowledge. It is interesting to note that the Narada and Nrsingha Puranas are classified as subordinate texts, considering that Narada Muni is deemed one of the greatest mahajans in the universe. In the Bhagavat Purana, Lord Nrsinghadev has also been described as the fourth principle avatar of Lord Vishnu. Because we live in a world of duality, a tendency of the mind is to classify what is less and more, good and bad, or beginning and end, etc., etc. On the spiritual platform, ‘it’s all good,’ so to speak. Loving Ganesha in all His forms, and not discounting others, is the basis for understanding the true equality or non-dualistic nature of God. Unless one has truly realized their eternal relationship with the Absolute, duality may creep in, especially if we have put forth the assumption that our understanding of divinity is higher than others. At a time in the distant past, all followers of God, be they devotees of Shiva, Ganesha, Vishnu or Krishna , etc., lived in harmony with one another, although this concept may seem quite idealistic by today’s sectarian standards. In any case, in order to understand Sri Ganesha, it may be better to consider all aspiring transcendentalists (whatever their faith) as belonging to one family; the eternal family of the Absolute One. ‘God is One, Paths are Many’. In the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, Krishna says, “Everyone follows My path in all respects”. In his commentary, Swami Prabhupada says, ‘All kinds of spiritual processes are but different degrees of success on the same path’. As far as this these statements are concerned though, discernment is necessary to determine if our spiritual path is descending through suitable channels. In this regard, Suta Gosvami is an adept guru who has been endorsed by his peers to pass this pure knowledge on to others. Karma The Third Law of Nature, discovered by Sir Issac Newton states, ‘for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’. How many times have we heard the expression, loosely used in conversation, ‘what goes around comes around’? Jesus said, “As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Reap”. These are all concepts with a similar meaning. If we do good deeds, then good things will come to us, and if our actions are less than scrupulous then the opposite happens. This is Karma. Not only is it nature’s decree, but according to metaphysical knowledge, it is universal in scope. We may also be familiar with the cliché’s, ‘bad things only happen to good people?’ or ‘only the good die young’. This is karma in action. Why does a so-called innocent infant or young child get a disease or have an accident and die? The Judaic-Christian religions don’t explain these things very clearly. It is not that we are punished for being ‘non- believers’. All actions, good or bad, encompass their own consequences, either in this life or from previous lives. These incidences are stored in our personal Akashic record as subtle karmic seeds that sprout and fructify at the perfect time, as dictated by the universe. As we will see from our reading of this Purana, King Somakanta, although a very good and celebrated king, suffered a terrible bout of bad karma from a previous lifetime. Conduct King Somakanta instructs his son about personal conduct as well as politics. It is understandable that although the King was immersed in politics most of his life, and presently suffering from a horrible disease, foremost on his mind was imparting spiritual knowledge to his son, Hemakanta. We can see in this day and age that there is practically no concern with personal conduct, especially by many of those engaged in politics. It seems that politicians are only interested in taking millions of dollars in contributions by soliciting help from less than honest corporate lobbyists, so they may be re-elected. By showing favor to those same lobbyists and the corporations they represent, economic chaos, intense greed, useless wars, and environmental disasters have been the outcome. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, ‘Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps’. If the leaders of society are honest, then those who depend on them for leadership, including their own families, will follow suit. This standard of decency would lead to a more prosperous and peaceful society for all. All Life is Sacred In the Ganesha Purana we come to understand the dilemma of King Somakanta, due to activities performed in a previous birth. In a previous lifetime he had to choose whether it was worthwhile to rob and kill an innocent Brahmin, considering the horrible karmic reaction accrued by performing such an atrocious act. What to speak of the reactions he had already incurred by murdering other innocent people, as well as animals. In the Sastras it is mentioned that the killing of women, children, the elderly, Brahmins, one’s guru, or the cows are strictly forbidden, or else horrible karma occurs. Other than regarding only human life, the cow, according to the ancient Vedas, is always to be protected, or society will owe a heavy debt. The cow is considered like our own mother, because, like our human mother, she supplies milk and nourishment. Cow’s milk, above all other animals, is considered the tastiest of all. Therefore it is used by society for nutrition and enjoyment. As we all know, cow’s milk can be made into many delicious foodstuffs such as butter, cream, yogurt, cheese and sweets. We actually owe the cows a debt of gratitude. In today’s society, however, we steal her gifts, send many of her baby’s away to be killed, and then send her to slaughter when she is no longer useful. Some say that cows are killed for food because they are dumb. In this regard, the saying may hold true - ‘you are what you eat’. It’s true that cows are peaceful, but not dumb. Just like humans, they eat, sleep, mate and defend themselves if provoked. We could compare a cow to a child, whose intelligence is not fully developed, but certainly not dumb. One would certainly not raise their own children for food, although there are some lower animals that eat their own young. In this regard, eating the young calf, as veal, is also abominable. If we truly desire to eat flesh, then we may be born a lion, tiger or one of many other carnivorous beasts. Cows hold life dear just like any other living creature. Until society stops the massive widespread slaughter of cows, calves and bulls for food, the collective bad karma of our planet will result in many wars and unfortunate events. In the Bhagavat Purana, it states that an individual who is a party to the slaughter of cows, whether one farms, slaughters, butchers, sells or eats the meat, will have to die as many deaths as there are hairs on the cow. Whether or not we believe this statement is not the issue. What does matter, though, is that we become aware, if we aren’t already, that a special holy bond exists between human society, God and Mother Cow - and all animals for that matter. The Puranas help us to understand this important spiritual lesson. Detachment Due to his diseased condition, King Somakanta decided to leave for the forest. It is always a sad time when one leaves his family due to responsibilities elsewhere, like a soldier being called to duty. The emotions felt, which can cause mental anguish, are mostly due to attachment to temporary bodies in the world. In reality we do not belong to one another but have been projected here, like a hologram from the Infinite. This metaphorical hologram (our spirit) has been uniquely energized by the Supreme Spirit of God, and is ever-existing. Since the beginning of time, due to our desire to dominate material nature, we have been propelled into this universe, like light beams from a movie projector; the projection being the energy of God. In other words, there is never any separation from Universal Spirit. Although seemingly distinct, light can never be separated from the sun. That is an illusion of the Master Director. Our true dharma is to dispel the false impression that we are separate from God. This can be accomplished in many ways. Some methods for helping one to become self- realized are mentioned in the text, such as offering prayers to the divine, chanting mantras, worshipping a form of the Lord, reading, reciting or listening to spiritual texts, or hearing from and glorifying the spiritual master. There are many, many ways to make progress in spiritual life.

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